UN proposal for Western Sahara rejected

The UN envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, has floated the idea of dividing the territory between Morocco and the Polisario Front as a solution to the near five-decades-old dispute, according to a report on the Club of Mozambique site. The long-frozen conflict, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco – which considers Western Sahara its own territory – against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front independence movement – which seeks a separate state there. Morocco says autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the most it can offer as a political solution to the conflict, while the armed Polisario Front insists on the holding of a referendum with independence as an option. In a briefing to the Security Council behind closed doors last week, De Mistura said that partition 'could allow for the creation on the one hand of an independent state in the southern part, and on the other hand the integration of the rest of the territory as part of Morocco, with its sovereignty over it internationally recognised'. Neither Morocco nor the Polisario Front accepted the proposal. In July, France became the second permanent Security Council member after the US to back Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory. Algeria reacted to the French position by recalling its ambassador to Paris.